-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It 's a cliche .

After a shooting , reporters rush to find people who can talk about the accused . Almost always , neighbors , colleagues , friends and family shake their heads in disbelief .

He was such a nice boy , they 'll say , quiet . We ca n't believe he could have done something like this .

Such has not been the case so far with Evan Ebel , 28 , the man suspected of killing Colorado prison chief Tom Clements last week .

People who knew Ebel invariably describe him as troubled .

He was an ex-con , who spent years in solitary confinement because he was deemed too great a risk to the prison community . He was angry , violent , and seemingly incapable of accepting the sort of help his prominent family and others wanted to give .

Ebel was lost .

`` From the beginning , his son just seemed to have this bad streak , a streak of cruelty , and anger , '' Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper , a longtime friend of Ebel 's father , told CNN 's `` State of the Union . ''

`` They did everything they could . They tried . They worked with Evan again and again , but to no avail , '' the governor said .

`` He had a bad , bad streak . ''

Gun links Colorado prison chief 's killing to Texas shootout

Tendency toward violence

Ebel grew up on a quiet street in Lakewood , Colorado , near Denver .

He was the son of Jody Mangue and Jack Ebel , an attorney and former oil executive . By all accounts , Ebel came from privilege , but showed signs of trouble from a very early age .

`` He just struck me as angry , '' said Lakewood neighbor Vicky Bankey .

`` I could see him , he 'd be running out on the front lawn to come out to a car with his friends and he would have screaming , obscenity-laced arguments with them sometimes , '' she said .

As a teenager , Ebel was sent to a boot-camp-type program in Samoa , where according to one person who knew him there , almost everyone avoided him .

`` He was quite a scary individual , especially by the end of the time . He had engaged in several fights with other students . One in particular he beat up with a broomstick , '' said Kurt Frey , who put Ebel 's age at the camp somewhere between 15 and 17 .

`` He 's gone through so many bad things in his life that really , it just did n't surprise me that he ended up being killed in a shootout with police . ''

Wanting to make ` Hitler jealous '

Ebel was killed Thursday in north Texas after a battle with authorities that left a sheriff 's deputy wounded .

He died just two days after Clements was shot to death at his home outside Colorado Springs .

Authorities have said the bullets that killed Clements came from a gun that was found with Ebel , who had handwritten directions to the prison chief 's house in his car .

Police have also said there is a `` strong connection '' between the killings of Clements and that of Nathan Collin Leon , a pizza delivery driver who was found dead in suburban Golden , Colorado .

No clear motive has emerged in either case .

Investigators , however , have said they are looking into all possible angles , including Ebel 's onetime membership in the 211 Crew -- a white-supremacist prison gang .

Clements earned widespread recognition not only for prison reforms but also for a crackdown on gangs .

According to Frey , Ebel 's behavior , even as a teenager , suggested he was interested in white supremacy .

`` He was very proud of his Sicilian heritage , and he always talked about wanting to kill so many people that he 'd make Hitler jealous , '' Frey told CNN 's `` Anderson Cooper 360 . ''

`` He really was racist , but at the same time he did hang around with African-Americans at the camp , so it was very contradictory . ''

` We know a different person '

A more nuanced picture of Ebel likewise emerges from his mother 's accounts .

Mangue writes about her children on a blog she originally started in memory of her 16-year-old daughter , who died in a car accident in 2004 .

The site is now also dedicated to the memory of her son .

According to Mangue , Ebel 's life took a sharp turn after his sister 's death .

`` Evan drifted into a dark period , he was struggling prior , but that event threw him over the edge , they were three years apart . He was the protective big brother and in this case , was unable to protect her , '' she wrote .

`` His life deteriorated after that and he just became numb and lost his direction altogether , between using drugs and committing crimes , he was soon put in prison for 8 long years . ''

Mangue and Ebel 's father kept in close contact , sending letters , cards and visiting their son when they could .

He got in shape in prison , became an avid reader and an advocate against using substances , she said .

Mangue wrote about the bright moments of her son 's childhood .

Ebel was a funny boy , full of spunk and energy , she recalled . He was n't afraid of anyone and loved animals .

Once , after a sleepover at a friend 's house , he brought home a small gray kitten named Sparkles . The family kept her for 15 years .

`` So even though , he is depicted as depraved , evil , we know a different person who was loving , kind , thoughtful , generous and sensitive to many in his family and to his friends , '' Mangue wrote .

`` As determined the media is in trying to pick apart our son , Evan for a good story , they will never succeed , he is out of their reach . He is not imprisoned anymore , his suffering has ended . ''

Anger at authority

Ebel was released from prison in January , after serving seven years -- three for felony menacing , robbery and assault , another four for assaulting a guard .

It was his second stretch in prison , after doing one year of a three-year term for felony armed robbery .

According to his mother and Gov. Hickenlooper , Ebel was in solitary confinement for much of his sentence . He was deemed too great a risk to be put with other inmates .

Similarly , he spent time in isolation at the boot camp in Samoa .

That time was hard for Ebel , Frey said , and it may have made things worse .

`` He had a lot of anger towards authority . He never liked being told what to do and his time in isolation really only compacted that , '' Frey said .

`` Everything was dictated down to the minute , and that really frustrated him . ''

Ironically , Clements -- the man Ebel is accused of killing -- was a champion of reducing solitary confinement for prisoners .

One thing authorities might never know about Ebel is , simply , why ?

His alleged actions might not have a clear logic .

But they at least appear to have a clear trajectory , said Rev. Leon Kelly , an anti-gang activist in Colorado .

`` This kid here , who may have tried to find a sense of identity throughout the course of his life now ... in an evil , senseless way , he 's found it . ''

CNN 's Paul Vercammen , Casey Wian and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report .

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Evan Ebel , 28 , is suspected in the death of Colorado 's prison chief

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He died during a shootout with Texas authorities

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Ebel was recently released from prison ; he had a violent and troubled past

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He `` just seemed to have this bad streak , a streak of cruelty , '' says the Colorado governor